This year-long clinic offers students hands-on experience in human rights advocacy through partnerships with NGOs, human rights practitioners, and law firms both in the United States and abroad.
Some projects involve direct client representation, offering students diverse opportunities to develop their skills, while other projects focus on different aspects of human rights advocacy.
Students work collaboratively on multiple projects throughout the year, with direct contact with clients or supervising attorneys at NGOs. Opportunities for domestic and international travel may be available, scheduled flexibly to accommodate student commitments. Regular communication with clients or supervising attorneys is a requirement.
The clinic’s curriculum emphasizes human rights law concepts, ethical and professional dilemmas, critical analysis of human rights movements, and strategic advocacy planning. It offers ample networking opportunities with practitioners and practical skill development, including international research and writing, litigating in international forums, advocating before government and international bodies, and documenting human rights violations.
Open to new students each Fall, this clinic provides an intensive platform to prepare effective human rights advocates.
To be considered for this clinic, students must both rank the clinic in the clinic lottery and submit application materials within the timeline set by the Student Records Office. Students selected for the clinic through the clinic application/lottery process will be automatically enrolled prior to the regular course lottery.
The positions that the clinic takes on behalf of its clients are independent of the views of the University of Virginia or the School of Law.
Faculty
Nelson Camilo Sánchez León
Associate Professor of Law, General Faculty
Director, Immigration, Migration and Human Rights Program
Director, International Human Rights Law Clinic
Skills Taught
International human rights research and writing, litigating human rights claims in international forums, advocating before international organizations, and documenting and publicizing human rights violations
Grading
S/U (fall), H/P/F (spring)
Course Credits
6 (3 fall, 3 spring)
Instructors
In the News
4.29.26 Clinic Supports Human Rights Work in Chile
12.23.25 Students Reflect on Joining UN Talks on Global Tax Agreement
10.3.25 Clinic’s Brief Cited in Case That Could Shape International Law
7.18.25 Clinics Pitch In for Clients
2.27.25 Clinic Observes Hearing in Costa Rica on Key Human Rights Issue
2.2.25 Amicus Curiae Brief Prepared by Clinic in the Case Chirinos Salamanca et al. v. Venezuela
12.3.24 Clinic Students Visit UN Human Rights Council To Continue Efforts on Ethiopia
9.30.24 International Human Rights Clinic Prepares Report, “Measuring the Efficacy of the Federal Justice System in Argentina,” in English and Spanish
4.30.24 Clinic Students Travel to Argentina, Geneva To Observe Evolution of Justice
11.21.23 Students Report on Transformative UN Trip
2.17.23 One Year After Russian Invasion, UVA Human Rights Lawyer Is Suing on Behalf of Ukrainians
11.17.22 Postcard From Peru: Clinic Students Witness Tense Dialogue at OAS General Assembly
2.25.22 Clinic Notches Win as Honduran Court Tosses Activists’ Convictions
2.16.22 Clinic Co-Signs “International Standards on Judicial Guarantees and Right of Defense”
5.11.21 Clinic Authors “Gender Discrimination in Football: Building a Toolbox Toward Gender Equity in the Beautiful Game”
12.8.20 Clinic Report Backs Human Rights of Gay Men in Nigeria
5.6.20 Clinic Students Help Shape UN Guidance in Science, Human Rights
11.20.19 Students Help Organize Conference Looking at Future of Human Rights Reform
4.16.19 Clinic Students’ Research on Migrants Aids UN Meeting in Geneva
4.4.19 Clinic Students on Colombia Trip Study Legal Remedies for Air Pollution
11.19.18 Clinic Opposes Pardon for Human Rights Criminal
6.4.18 Camilo Sánchez Joins Faculty as International Human Rights Clinic Director
10.11.12 Students Team Up with Alum to Educate Guatemalan Women About Their Rights
10.14.11 Law Students Support UN Official's Investigation of Violence Against Women in the United States
3.16.11 International Human Rights Clinic Students Research Women's Rights in Iraq
6.3.10 Supreme Court Rules in Case that Included Work by International Human Rights Clinic Students
5.18.10 Haiti’s Women at High Risk for Rape Following Earthquake, Professor Finds
3.3.10 International Human Rights Clinic Contributes to Supreme Court Brief in Torture Case
6.19.09 Clinic Students Help Iraqi Lawmakers Through Work for NGO
3.19.08 Human Rights Program Conference to Explore Chinese Legal Reform
Students from the International Human Rights Law Clinic at the University of Virginia School of Law reflect on their recent trip to Santiago, Chile, where they worked with partners to continue pursuing justice on behalf of victims of a government crackdown on protesters in 2019.